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Chest pain

I'm 30, m, 130 lbs.
for the past 2 years I've had week long episodes where I have chest pain on the left side difficulty breathing. There is also abdominal distension. This comes and goes though.

I had some digestive issues in the past which included h. pylori. I take a slew of supplements though and think I corrected this problem. However, I still get chest pain and the other aforementioned symptoms.

Does anyone think this is a heart issue? Hiatal hernia sounds closest. My pulse is usually normal though and I have exercised vigorously. Sometimes exercise compounds the problem, sometimes it has no effect. Sometimes a large meal will trigger symptoms, sometimes it's anxiety.

I don't have insurance so I am trying to figure this out on my own. I almost sought chiropractic help but if it's not a hiatal hernia I might do more harm than good. Is there one diagnostic test that could rule out (or accurately diagnose) a heart issue and/or hiatal hernia? Thanks for any help. I can spend the money for care but I don't wanna go in circles.




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Avatar universal
Chest pain, difficulty breathing, and abdominal distention are not normal and warrant medical attention.  Your PCP would be an appropriate place to start and can run tests to determine the nature of your symptoms.  Trying to self diagnose or have others diagnose you over a medical forum is no substitute for an actual doctorwo can examine you, run tests, and knows your medical history.
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Avatar universal
Pain on the left side is not where true chest pain is felt (you can google this), so the heart is probably not an issue for that.  

Difficulty breathing has a lot of potential causes, but asthma, allergy, and fear are good candidates--in the absence of symptoms of shock, such as grey skin and an incredibly profuse cold sweat.

Abdominal distention almost always points to a gut problem, and the splenic flexure of the gut is over there on the left side, rather high up:

http://medimages.healthopedia.com/large/distention-of-the-colons-splenic-flexure.jpg

Inflation or contraction of this part of the gut can produce some rather powerful symptoms, even if they're benign.  Heavy duty gut stim can affect the Vagus Nerve, which can produce some heart-related symptoms, also usually benign.

Chiropractors get surprisingly little real physiology in their studies, so if you don't want to waste your money, I'd suggest seeing an internist for your concerns.  Unlike a chiropractor, a gastro guy could use X-rays or a scope to check out your gut problems, as well as discuss your heart worries with some real medical background behind him.
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